Megaday celebrates its 25th edition with 1,500 revellers

More than 1,500 people attended this year’s Megaday event at Caerphilly RFC’s Virginia Park.

This year marked the 25th edition of the charity music festival, which has raised more than £330,000 for Velindre Cancer Centre since 1995.

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More than 50 volunteers worked tirelessly so that the event could go ahead.

The event was kicked off on Saturday, August 24 by an evening with former Welsh rugby internationals Shane Williams, Martyn Williams and Andy Powell.

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Martyn Williams, Andy Powell and Shane Williams spoke at Megaday

The decorated trio, who between them have won Grand Slams, played in World Cups and taken part in British and Irish Lions tours, spoke to Megaday organiser and ex-MasterChef contestant Stephen Ford in front of a live audience.

The event continued on Sunday, August 25 with a range of live music from local bands

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Performers included the Love Handles, 4th Street, Neon Ballroom, Best Served Chilled, The Clones, Strip Lights, Access All Areas, Cancel the Transmission and Guardians of Public Morality.

Megaday has raised more than £330,000 for Velindre since 1995

The volunteer-run event was set up in memory of Caerphilly musician Andrew Nichols, who lost his battle with cancer in 1995.

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Andrew was known to friends as ‘Mega’ and so the event was named after him.

In August 2001, Paul “PG” Grahame, who had been instrumental in the organisation of Megaday from the outset and had performed at every Megaday with his band, PG and the Tips, also passed away from cancer.

Following this, the Megaday organisers became more determined than ever and the music festival has been held in memory of both Mega and PG ever since.

Peter Hopkins, who is one of the event’s organisers, said: “It was really good, it was as good as we could have hoped.

“We had really good weather and the rugby guys were great. Everything fell into place.

“It was the best attendance we’ve had for a number of years.”

The appetite for the event is still strong and we’re engagjng new audiences.